tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575603731696062553.post8199632963123640608..comments2019-03-20T02:59:59.316-05:00Comments on The Great Change: The people in range of secret frequenciesAlbert Bateshttps://plus.google.com/102133440341229405901noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575603731696062553.post-30453681804418230982018-06-17T13:08:02.416-05:002018-06-17T13:08:02.416-05:00Ward Farnsworth: The Practicing Stoic: A Philosphi...Ward Farnsworth: The Practicing Stoic: A Philosphical User&#39;s Manual<br /><br />Ward Farnsworth is the Dean of the School of Law at the U of Texas. He wrote the book referenced above. Farnsworth obviously thinks the Stoics (who practiced in Greece and Rome) have something to say to us today. And he uses the approach favored by lawyers. I can&#39;t exactly describe it, but it is not like the approach of the charlatan nor the preacher nor the scientist nor the engineer. It is lawyerly. Even his title has some reverberations of titles selected by Mr. Bates, himself an attorney.<br /><br />The book is mostly quotes from the ancients, but also peppered with quotes from more recent advocates of ways of looking at the world which were influenced by the Stoics. In addition, Farnsworth writes some original exposition of their main ideas. For example, one of their ideas is to change the perspective from one of narrow self-interest to what we might call the perspective from the Big Bang...in which the fate of a particular human or even the human race is not very important. Nevertheless, each human is where that human is, has been given certain powers, and should strive to live a life of virtue.<br /><br />Let me try one example. We have strong evidence that humans are a way used by microbes to multiply their own numbers. If humans disappear because they acted foolishly, then innocent microbes will suffer. So what can a Stoic do? Well, one thing is to promote the diversity of microbes. If you search on &#39;Johnson-Su compost&#39;, and are diligent, you will observe a way that most anyone can use to promote diversity of microbes in any piece of land they temporarily control. I consider that virtuous behavior.<br /><br />On the other hand, lamenting that humans are about to kill themselves off may yield very poor returns.<br /><br />This is a book worth pondering...Don StewartDon Stewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05449201744675390686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575603731696062553.post-71374224819757344412018-06-17T11:15:29.925-05:002018-06-17T11:15:29.925-05:00Fabulous! An instant classic.Fabulous! An instant classic.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01251330546889158364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575603731696062553.post-26411421348476860752018-06-17T09:57:19.211-05:002018-06-17T09:57:19.211-05:00a startling collection of insightful quotes to und...a startling collection of insightful quotes to underline your point. NETs are not going to save the day. <br />How many attendees at the conference? I recognized three names in the program: Tverberg, Hall and you. Did you stay the whole thing through and was your prediction validated by the audience reaction to the content?Ian Grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02975374352244687491noreply@blogger.com